The House of Representatives committee on constitutional amendments on Monday approved a Resolution of Both Houses (RBH) calling for a constitutional convention to amend the 1987 Constitution.
The committee, led by its chairman Cagayan de Oro Rep. Rufus Rodriguez, agreed on “Con-Con” as a mode to amend the Constitution after having conducted seven public hearings to get the people’s pulse on whether the Charter must be amended.
During the hearing, 16 lawmakers voted in favor of the resolution while three legislators voted against and one abstained.
The panel, however, suspended deliberations on the committee report on an unnumbered House bill to implement the RBH.
“It is the accompanying bill which will also have constituent power that will provide for qualifications, the budget, and other powers that will be given,” Rodriguez said.
Camarines Sur Rep. Luis Raymund Villafuerte, president of the National Unity Party, said the Con-Con route at this early stage of the Marcos administration is the more feasible track instead of lawmakers convening themselves into a Constituent Assembly (Con-Ass).
“The problem in our country is basically poverty. We need to create jobs, and in order to create jobs we need foreign investments, foreign capital,” he said.
Villafuerte said the House is “targeting to have more marathon hearings, and possibly, decide on this issue by April…so the Senate will be able to decide on this matter before the year is over…and maybe we can have a plebiscite by the first quarter of next year.”
“Now, if we can’t have a plebiscite to approve the would-be proposed constitutional amendments by the first quarter next year, I think we have to wait another five years, which means (during the administration of) the next President, to keep Charter Change rolling. That’s the sad reality,” he added.
Former Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Puno supported the move, stating that the 1987 Constitution should not only be amended but also revised to meet the current needs and necessities.
At the same time, Puno suggested amending the Constitution by way of a hybrid form of constitutional convention, where delegates would be selected through election and by appointment.
“The world in the last decades of the 20th century is a totally different world in the opening decade of the 21st century. The geopolitical situation in the world has undergone radical transformation. The balance of political and economic power in this planet has changed. The digital revolution is redefining our way of life, including the text and texture of our fundamental rights to life, liberty, and property,” Puno said.
During the hearing, the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) also told legislators that election exercises in connection with a Charter change initiative could cost the government as high as P28 billion.
“If it’s going to be held as a separate national election and national plebiscite, the total cost would be P28 billion. If it will be held simultaneously with the next barangay or national elections, the cost will go down to P231 million,” NEDA Undersecretary for Legislative Affairs Krystal Lyn Tan Uy said.
“If the cost is for a separate national plebiscite of a constituent assembly, the estimated cost is P13.8 billion. If it’s a constituent assembly that will be held simultaneously with the next barangay or national elections, it’s P30 million,” Uy added.
Aside from Villafuerte’s HBs 4926, other bills filed on con-con were HBs 6698 of Manila Rep. Bienvenido Abante Jr., HB6805 of Leyte Rep. Richard Gomez, and HB 6920 of Kabayan Rep. Ron Salo.
One of the oppositors of the Charter change push, Gabriela Rep. Arlene Brosas, said: “Current and urgent problems that we are facing – escalating prices, low wages, massive hunger, joblessness, landlessness – do not stem from the 1987 Constitution. Hence, amending the Constitution will not magically cure these problems.”
Earlier, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr said that Charter change is “not a priority” of his administration.
“It is not a priority for me because there are so many things to do…there are so many other things that we need to do first,” Mr. Marcos said.
“We can still achieve what we want within the present Constitution, with the way the Constitution is written,” he added.
Mr. Marcos acknowledged that talks on Charter change have surfaced “because of the economic provisions.”
“We want to have investment but things like these delays us—you know what the issues are: the ownership, appropriation, things like that,” the President said.
“But for me, all that is being discussed, we can do it even without the Charter change,” he added.